Manchester City have returned to the top of the Premier League after earning an impressive victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
The away side named a very attacking line-up, with a back three of Ake, Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker, and it was quickly shown on the pitch that Bernardo Silva had been tasked with the makeshift left wing-back role, with him quickly put to work at trying to stop Bukayo Saka. The Portuguese could easily have been booked for his second strong tackle on our young Englishman inside 15 minutes, but our main man appeared unphased by the early battle.
After dominating much of the possession early on, we looked to be turning the screw after the initial 15 minutes, and when Oleksandr Zinchenko teed up Eddie Nketiah for the header from close range there was huge excitement, only for his glancing effort to slide wide of the post.
We was almost immediately punished for that mistake at the other end, when Takehiro Tomiyasu was put under pressure before misplacing a backpass, with Kevin De Bruyne latching onto the error to lob the incoming Aaron Ramsdale from outside the box, breaking the deadlock in style.
We clearly weren’t phased by falling behind, as we swiftly put the pressure back on our rivals. Both Kyle Walker and Ederson picking up yellow cards in frustration, before Eddie Nketiah forced a penalty from the goalkeeper. Bukayo Saka made no mistake from the spot, refusing to be distracted by the Brazilian’s mind games between the sticks to make sure we went into the break level.
We breathed a huge sigh of relief early into the new half, when Erling Haaland was spotted as offside by VAR after the referee had decided to penalise Gabriel Magalhaes challenge on the Norwegian in the box, while the Brazilian defender had his yellow card taken away after the decision also.
A thoroughly exciting viewing followed, with both defences being put to work, but despite our efforts, it was Jack Grealish who was next to get his name on the scoresheet. Wish just 15 minutes left on the clock to get back into it this time, the boss moved to swiftly make changes, but not before long, Erling Haaland had made it 3-1, all-but ending our reign at the head of the table.
This was certainly a great game for the neutrals, and there is definitely more positives for us to take out of this game than we have seen in previous fixtures, but the result means that we no longer hold an advantage in the table, and now have to find a way to get back winning and put pressure on the Citizens who have just leapfrogged us.
Will the boss be able to quickly guide us back to winning ways before our title hopes fizzle quickly away?
Patrick
Man City’s attack were simply much sharper, more cohesive and more clinical than ours. De Bruyne was my MOTM. The man was simply much better than other playmakers in the game
Nketiah should work on his header and White had better start at Villa Park. Arteta has surely learned from Man City’s game against Aston Villa and tonight’s game
We can still win EPL without beating Man City, as long as we fix our attack
that’s wishful thinking at best, we are not winning anything this season again, it’s over. the earlier you realize it you will be at peace
And you were probably also saying wishful thinking at start of season to be in top 4. How easy you forget. Goal was top 4 and that will happen.
Any top four finish will be an improvement to me, but winning EPL is still mathematically possible
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Well written, when you have a coach who is brilliantly stubborn, you end up with an egg in your face. Advise me which Chelsea reject has performed for us? Yet to save some GBP, we hired a zero returns player from Chelsea. What more must Trossad do to displace Marteneli? No chance for the Europa as well. This joke should have taken the Carabao cup seriously at the least.
The fair weather fan, that’s you, how about getting behind the team, how many teams have restricted Man City to 38% possession, we made two costly errors, and didn’t take our chances, so what it happens, City lost to Spurs and Brentford and drew against Everton at home. If somebody has said we would be level on points with City with a game in hand going into the second part of the season I would have taken it all day long. There are still plenty of games left and many twists to come. I would rather our blip now than later, when Jesus comes back it will be like a new signing. Beat Villa on Saturday and it;s game on. Have a little faith
Mirrors my own thoughts GAI. Would add why did GM stay on for 70 mins – as he did for a spell last season he’s lost all confidence and adds nothing. He needs time out. Arteta needs to rethink about selections as I’m not sure he is tactically astute during games.
I also think Martinelli needs some time on the bench
We need striker like Toney in the team who can give us much more other options..
We would won all the physical battles aginst City defenders..
He would buried that cross from Zinchenko..
It’s too late to sign a new CF, so Arteta should find other method to score. Guardiola has been showing him how to do it in Man City’s last two games
Said from day one, Arsenal should have spent the bank on Erland Haarland; exactly the sharp edge Arsenal needs up front to convert every opportunity created.
He wouldnt have come to us
Dan, why not when Odegaard could have assisted Arteta in selling “the project? The money difference to Jesus was not insurmountable for Arsenal.
@Gai, GMatinelli has suffer dip inform Trosard was much better few minutes he played.. Tomiyasu tried with lots of headers but offers little going forward. It’s time Thieney plays in certain game bcos is overlap and crosses better than Zichenko. This is time for Arteta to show if he is a tactical genius.. PePG didn’t take Arsenal for granted but twisted his formation. Arsenal also need an imposing CF in the summer. Halaand height and physically like Osimehen was huge for MCity.
I agree that Trossard should start ahead of Martinelli, but I’d prefer to keep Zinchenko as the inverted LB. Tierney’s long crosses will be wasted because we have no aerially-dominant CF to receive those passes in the air
Guardiola showed how to use his inverted LB as a surprise element. Zinchenko could be that weapon for Arsenal, by popping out from deep midfield area unmarked
I also agree with the imposing CF. Osimhen could be an excellent addition, but we might have to sell Nketiah or Balogun first to fund the deal
Arteta not beaten Pep once since being Arsenal manager. Do we think Pep knows how to stop him.
Not true, FA cup semi final, first season Arteta came, he beat Man City with far worse team than he has now.
Thats even more damning then, he had a team that could beat them and now his team cant. But i was referring to the league.
Unlucky in the first half had the better chances. Poor mistakes once again cost us dearly. Squad management needs addressed as we constantly play the same players over and over. Changes should’ve been made for the Brentford game at least give us a bit of freshness for both games. Subs always left far too late. Trossard should’ve started let alone come on earlier than he did. Haaland very lucky with that elbow now if that was Xhaka or Gabriel himself it would’ve been a different story. Bring back Jesus. We go again against Villa
Very very disappointed with the tactics tonight at 1-1 we were playing with the ball at the back like we were 3-0 up
Arteta have one plan if it fails he has no plan B and yes people will say they hear that all the time but it is simply the truth
Alot of the starting eleven is tired
Ramsdale, Xhaka, Saka, Martinelli needs a break
Zinscenko wants to do too much which is a pity when he keeps it simple he is very effective in that role
I hope we can pick ourselves up from this very demoralizing loss
They play 2 games a week if there tired then get another job absolutely disgraceful the lot of them all that money they should be running through brick walls no hunger passion bottle jobs
Yup Palmer – very bad day for Arteta. Would add he didnt readjust and tell them to play long balls out when they pressed and our defence was a panicking mess.
We played well but we were always in a hurry, if we had calmed the game down,we probably would have won,
Nketiah once again didn’t help our wingers by dragging the defenders, I think Martineli and trossard need to start together.
Zinchenko was fantastic today, Saka wasn’t protected at all,really unfair, in all we did well,
After Jan transfer window,it was obvious what was gonna happen. I appreciate everyone’s attempts to be optimistic the last few weeks, but let’s be brutally honest and admit City we’re always gonna catch us with Jorginho being the height of our ambitions in Jan. And Eddie’s hot streak officially over. If arteta wants to make a killer side, he needs to be even more brutal in his choices. UCL spot still a good season tho guys, will be bittersweet
True, it seems like a carbon copy of Wengers 13/14 January window when we were leading and he brought injured Källström
Rubbish Jorginho had a solid game calm head, played some great passes, it was our finishing that was off
Why do you call him Rubbish Jorginho when said in the same sentence that he had a solid game and calm head. Self contradiction?
Same old bottle jobs they all need to take a look in the mirror absolute rubbish last 4 games 5-6 looms seriously poor
You need to take a look yourself and ask yourself, am I a fan or am I just a bottle job myself for getting behind the team and the manager? The Emirates has become fantastic this season and some of it is down to getting rid of sour face fans like yourself
Agree RSH – a wake up call tonight, sober reality setting in. We punched above our weight early season- it wasn’t even that Man C were great, more that we weren’t good enough, and tonight Arteta was tactically naiive in so many departments. We need quality reinforcements in the summer – will the Kronkes pay? I want to stay positive, especially after that first half, but second half we fell apart.
Shows we need a striker!
Arsenal are too predictable.Pass and pasz like Wenger.Ramsdale has suddenly become hesitant.Gabriel has gone of the boil.
The defen ce has suddenly gone awol.
A lot to play for .Out young gunners looked jaded.Hopefully when Jesus comes back it could rejuvinated the side.
And lets not forget the absence of Partley.
He was the Veira clone
No we need Jesus back GB! But it will be interesting what those who support Nketiah through thick and thin just because he’s an academy player say about this “natural finisher”‘s finishing lately!
Nketiah is a 1 trick pony, a poacher. Great when he scores, but otherwise offers little and almost like playing with 10 men.
Jesus can dribble defenders, interchange along the wings, play false 9, even drop back and help midfield in buildup.
He got double teamed often, freeing up Martinelli and Saka. Opponents don’t fear Nketiah, and have figured they can blank us when they press hard on our wingers.
Have to upgrade on Nketiah this Summer. Didn’t work fighting for 4th, won’t work now either.
I had very few hopes for Nketiah but then had to eat my words because he was scoring. I’m in limbo now
A bit too harsh on Nketiah IMO! It’s no secret the player is weak in the air, but we made to effort to sign a target striker. Arteta and Edu should carry the can for this failure.
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I think that’s it for title talk. Losing 8 points in 3 matches straight pretty much means we’re on a steady downwsrd spiral which I can’t see us coming out of while City is gaining momentum. Shame..
1 point from 9 isn’t the way to win the league, very disappointing result and 2nd half performance and maybe now is the time to rethink our ambition for the season and definitely put the euro league as a priority now but only my thoughts as I think ee will fall short in the Premier league
Same gor City, list to Spurs and Brentford, and drew against Everton still a long way to go every team has a blip, rather now, than later
I think we will finish 3rd,I don’t know want went wrong with our defence,relying on Nketiah while city has Halaand no chance
Before their second goal and after Nketiah’s yellow card, I’d hoped that Trossard could have been brought on to replace Nketiah with Martinelli moved into the middle.
Me too that’s what I wanted to see but we wait until they score to make the sammmmmeeeee change again
please admin or anyone esle, who will help to ring severally this view @Wale Akinlatun to MA cox he seem obsessed with ?Nketia
A reader reminds us that the correct word is “unfazed.” As for Spock, one might say he was “unphased” when a Klingon took his weapon. But when writing about how Spock reacted to being disarmed, the word is “unfazed.”
Maybe easy in hindsight but really poor from Arteta – Martinelli starting, does nothing but stays on for 70 mins? Tomi totally destroys our right side attack even forgetting the mistake, but White gets 10 mins? No instruction to play longer ball out when our defence is panicking on the ball? All Arteta. Other comments – really really poor game by Ode, Jorginho is no Partey, Nketiah is a “natural finisher” – really? Plenty to still play for and excellent first half, but Arteta’s team selection and ingame management in the second half needs an inquisition.
Ben White will not improve anything attack wise. Only the geniuses in charge will be able to explain why so much energy was expended on recruiting another centre half when what is clearly missing is an attacking wing back. Our options going forward are limited and all the other teams realise this now.
Hiya Joe. Firstly January is a tough time to buy and we don’t have the cash to burn of some teams. But having said that Arteta seems to work on a long term favourites list and is incapable of adapting to short term needs. He liked Kiwior long term so bought him, when the cash should have gone towards other positions. I like Ben White and he IS a better attacking option than Tomi – I’m surprised that you don’t see that, but it’s not his natural position, so we don’t have a Roberto Carlos here. His job is to support Saka, create enough overlaps to put doubt into the fullbacks’ minds, which he does and Tomi doesn’t.
Neither White nor Tomi can cross a decent ball and White would also have struggled defensively today. There isn’t much diffey between the two and the are both playing out of position.
Mr Guy, like so many fans, is simply lashing out looking for scapegoats and people to blame.
Mistakes directly leading to goals clearly need to be worked on.
The long ball approach so enamoured by Mr Guy would simply have handed initiative to Man City for more of the game.
Tomiyasu is usually defensively sound which is the likely reason he was chosen.
There is a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking masquerading as analysis about.
Ben White backs up Saka very well, try watching him, you may be surprised.
Same old bottle jobs they need to pull the socks up and put in the hard yards tossing it off last 4 game’s shocking back 4 need wages docked and given to charity
remember last year when we failed to get top 4 because we let Eddie lead the line. Let’s do that again
Still all to play for. We would all have bitten your hand off if we had been offered equal points and a game in hand in mid Feb.
Now we need to forget what has happened in the last few game and start another run of wins.
City now have to play in the CL and we are still in the hunt. Chins up, no negativity and keep our belief.
We were not outplayed tonight; just two silly defensive errors and two bad missed headers from Eddie.
On another night we could well have won this game.
I some respects I agree but those 2 silly mistakes and lack of bite in attack are part of the 90 minutes. City finished off our mistakes and we couldn’t make our chances count. They were better but we still have plenty to fight for.
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Yes but there goals cost almost 200 mill
Our goal and Eddies two misses cost …..literally zero
So some perspective
City were better in the second half and controlled the game. However, the errors were critical and it shows that there are still significant weaknesses in our game.
Our lack of presence up front was always going to be a risk in games such as this.
The season is not over however and we have an outstanding game. The manager will have to get the players to focus on the games ahead.
👌 Precisely
Good to see you are staying positive Jon. My one plus from this game is that we will probably not be labelled with the “favourite’s” tag now, which could well take some pressure off the team and allow us to play again the football we were capable of not so long ago!
Spot on it’s a blip, win on Saturday and we are top
Totally agree. 2 mistakes cost us. If Eddie had put that header away would be different.
Fine margins.
Thought Jorginho was excellent.
Surprised me.
Am tired of making the same complaints over and again. Take it or leave it, we are going to bottle the title because Arteta fails to do what he should do. Well, let’s encourage the boys. It’s not yet over. Every team will still drop points. We can still reclaim our position only if our know it all coach, do the right thing.
Next game our back line should be Tomiyasu Saliba Kiwior Tierney.
Next two games will define the season. Leicester are playing so well and Aston Villa have the players to potentially punish a demoralised Arsenal. Still for the next few weeks let’s think of 89-90 when all looked lost but we took the title at their home fortress.
So we are back to old Arsenal again, I see Gary Nevill’s prediction coming true. Nkettiah gives us nothing no link up play, no physicality and no pace to go past defenders. He is at best a bench super sub type player. Only player we have who wants to make runs past defender is Martinelli and we never play over the top balls or through balls even when there is chance. Alright we can not get Mbappe n Halland but could have at least targeted Rashford type player who pace can cause havoc. Also Ten Hag is better than Arteta he won against Pep in his first season and look what he is doing with united. Arteta keeps playing same football against city with same result. We should have setup to not loose the match instead we tried to over pass a team who has more quality then us look what happened… Surprise
Individual costly errors have crippled us once again. Back to basics. Much positives to take but overall disappointed for the result. We got to start winning and go for a good streak of results.
It’s part a mentality thing we have to overcome. A bad blip of games, screws tighten, and we just can’t respond positively.
Young team, and at times it shows. We didn’t have anyone to step up and grab the game by the scruff.
Heavily dislike City, but they produced when they had to, while we simply couldn’t.
Season is not over, but City has the mental edge over us now, no denying that.
Arteta and the boys have to dust off and turn things around quickly. 3 points is a must, can’t afford to fall short in our next run of games.
I don’t know how you can be so pragmatic after that second half, Durand – I’m still spitting feathers! A few poor individual performances, silly mistakes (getting fed up with the excuse that they are “young, inexperienced players”!), and IMO the inability of Arteta to change things when change is needed. Not least why the heck he allowed us to keep trying to pass the ball out when our defence was a collective nervous wreck? It’s not like he doesn’t communicate with his team ingame!
I agree with you, believe. I’m frustrated with the rinse and repeat tactics, favorite starters, and not subbing quickly when things aren’t working.
Nketiah’s hot streak is over, he’s showing the same limitations we have known for past 4 years.
Zinchenko inverted has been found out and our attack has been dulled by multiple clubs now.
No plan B, and Arteta seems very stubborn and risk averse when changing tactics. Pep’s halftime adjust compared to Arteta’s shows exactly why he’s a serial winner.
Joghinho didn’t put a foot wrong all game.
Overall we didn’t do too badly …
Gabriel and Saliba were not too assured at that back..
I’m so not happy but we can still win the league .
If we can put 3 straight wins together things will change .we just need to stop this slide …
Very very disappointed with the tactics tonight at 1-1 we were playing with the ball at the back like we were 3-0 up
Arteta have one plan if it fails he has no plan B and yes people will say they hear that all the time but it is simply the truth
Alot of the starting eleven is tired
Ramsdale, Xhaka, Saka, Martinelli needs a break
Zinscenko wants to do too much which is a pity when he keeps it simple he is very effective in that role
I hope we can pick ourselves up from this very demoralizing loss
So players making mistakes is Arteta’s fault? Really!
No but not instructing Ramsdale et al to play the ball long and abandon trying to play out when we were panicking on the ball is absolutely Arteta’s fault, GB! I thought Rule Number 1 is if something clearly isn’t working then stop doing it?
So if Ramsdale, Xhaka, Saka, and Martinelli needs a break, who and who are going to replace them?
It was an obvious game that we can not beat city. Next 2 games are even harder, Aston villa and Leicester city. Finishing 5th is what am sensing right now. But anyway well done Danne smith for writing nothing but the truth
It would take a crazy meltdown for us to finish 5th. Not even fourth, the worst we’ll do is 3rd which in itself is disappointing seeing how we gifted city two very stupid goals.
The boys gave their all. There come a time when we can all agree that we are not at City level yet. Though I still think we don’t uave to be better than them to edge them to the league. That being said, I must express my frustration with our management. We can all say we we are not as rich as City but how did we utilise the funds. The fans have been clamouring for a quality midfider for over 3 windows and we still fail to adequately address it. We bought Vieira for 33mil, Marquinhos 6m, Jorginho 10m. This could have got us a quality midfielder that can slot in for Partey or Xhaka without obvious drop in quality. We have to be smart with our business.
When a club has unlimited financial resources and flagrantly doesn’t abide by “the rules” over many season, othe clubs have to be near perfect.
That game wasn’t a nail biter. City were by far superior to us save for the fortunate penalty. Arteta failed to manage the game at a crucial stage just before the Grealish goal. We needed a sub or two and a shift in tactics. Poor performance again. I’m seeing the old Arsenal creep in these last 3 games
38% pocession isn’t superior, we didn’t put our chances away we were so much better and individual mistakes cost us still a long way to go
Same old bottle jobs come on lads give your heads a shake poor poor poor seriously 😒
First half – even IMO ,soft pen without a doubt for me .
Second half – men against boys .
Ederson the best goalkeeper in prem history .
KDB the best player in the prem in the last 10 years .
PEP the best manager in living history .
Always going to be hard getting anything from the game with that against us .
Better team won ,onto the next
But the reality is City were not even at their best. Defensive errors cost us this game. Simple as. So it wasn’t because there was a wide gap between us on the pitch today. It was just our defenders that let us down. All 3 goals were super easy to defend against. We also froze up front when it came to taking our chances. The Arsenal that played against utd at home or spurs away would have won this game hands down
Why always us? Spuds best them n united as well. So how long are we going to hide behind excuses when every other excuse fails then the last one I see fans giving here is that the target was to finish in top 4. That is loosers mentality and I don’t agree. When you have such a golden chance to win league but blow it up then I don’t see how in future we are going to win it. How long coming in top 4 will be accepted by the fans, when do our fans think club should be held accountable for not winning the league?
Agree Logic. Some are masters of trying to find a excuse and justify failure.
Penalty all day long, even the ex ref Chris Foy said so, we gifted City the win overall we had the best chances.
Always tough without your main striker and arguably the best central midfielder in the league.
Our defeat to City is more a hoodoo than anything else. They simply always beat us.
Never thought we would win the league, or even challenge for it, so I am still grateful for where we are.
Not quite sure what Trossard has to do to get a start though.
Some teams struggling against the drop would have parked the bus.
MA could have done so but itz not in his dna.
I think Gabriel has become a liability .
The penalty would have been given if not for var fiasco.
Next stop AV.Martinez would be fired up.
This is the blip .Hopefully MA can get the gunners firng again
We could clearly see the defensive mistakes that caused us the last two goals before they actually happened !
Why keep doing the short passes when that tactics is clearly not working ?
Anyways, lets stay positive, we can still win the league!
MA won FA cup Parking the bus
With a better striker we would have won that game easily. Secondly, arteta confidence in Martinelli is going to cost us the league this season. I don’t care what anyone says, the trosard have been watching for 2 seasons is way better than Martinelli. Martinelli does this every season, he will be in form at the beginning and go off form in the middle. We can still win the league, beat Aston villa we back to first and take it from there. One more thing, arteta needs to start trusting some other players.
Better team won so we go again.
All the ridiculously optimistic posts before the game that we will win 3 or 4 nil? Think before you post!
You cannot legislate for the errors made by Tomi and Gabriel in conceding the first two goals, indeed the back four were all guilty of shoddy work during the match.There comes a time when defenders have to be reminded of their primary responsibilities , and refrain from overplaying the ball in dangerous situations.I thought our midfielders did well in the absence of Partey and the front three gave their all but we’re unable to convert the half chances which came their way.Let’s hope the players do not suffer a loss of confidence as they really must stop the rot by beating Villa.
Congrats to man city for winning the league don’t have enough strength in depth to cope we have run our race will prob be beat by villa on Sat as well!
I honestly felt we could have won, we had the team to win, but Arteta didn’t use them. We literally gave them two goals, by passing to them in our half. Not having a go at Eddie, but I think he does better as an impact player. Play Trossard as the main striker.
I honestly felt we could have won, we had the team to win, but Arteta didn’t use them. We literally gave them two goals, by passing to them in our half. Not having a go at Eddie, but I think he does better as an impact player. Play Trossard as the main striker.
Aren’t we also over rating City here with these “we are not yet worthy” excuses? Last I heard they have been beaten four times in the league so this loss wasn’t against some invincible force. Today Arsenal were lacking attacking options and were not up for it mentally and tactically. As usual our team is two just two players away from being a champion one. End of story.
And could those two players be Jesus and Partey Joe. S?
Two of our best players out, one who would have run their defence ragged AND given Martinelli the support that he had when he played.
The other one would have shorn up the midfield and linked up with Xhaka to dominate city’s midfield.
Let’s also not forget ESR, who I believe is a better player than Vieria will ever be.
City fielded their best players, we couldn’t.
Well done VAR for not interfering with the penalty decision.
Will city be punished for surrounding the referee for, what two or three minutes, before the penalty could be taken?
Finally, did anyone notice Pep’s antics on the sideline and how many times he came out of the technical area?
Over 90 minutes, the better team won, but we were not disgraced in any way.
By the way, city have also lost four games, we have lost three and the crowd was awesome once again!!!
I’ll take those two plus ESR when fit any day of the week but I also believe we need another midfielder / striker plus a wingback who can run, overlap cross and causes errors in the opposition penalty area
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👍ken – Partey is Arsenal’s most important player. When not available Zinchenko must replace him in midfield.
A toss up between him, Jesus, Saliba and Zaka, with Martinelli biting at their heels OG.
The other factor, ken apparently forgotten by many on JA talking about “bottle jobs”, is the number of games these players have had to play. The limited size of the squad and crucial injuries to the players you named has restricted Arteta’s ability to rotate players.
Agree again Joe – Man City are not the team they were its more we shot orselves in the foot. We only had Saka tonight as an attacking force, Arteta’s worst night in a long while. While I disgree that a RWB is one of the 2 (!!!) yes we need 2 or 3 top quality (real not potential like Marquinhos or Vieira) players or it’s “same old” next season.
We played beautifully in the first half of the game. Pep Guadiola got his tactics right in the second half by chocking up the midfield and not allowing arsenal to locate the two wings from the midfield. The pressure was so high on arsenal to the extent that our defense line were doing wrong passes to the opponents and Joginho was also nowhere to be found again. This gives Manchester City edge in the second half and they got the deserved win.
Though we later play them but the damage has been done..
The fact is that arsenal need an injury free defensive midfielder so they can rely less on Thomas Partey which can’t play the whole season without injury…..
Tierny has to start at LB next game. I love Zinchenko, but he isn’t a fullback. Rather have him in midfield with Partey with Tierny covering LB. Would also allow Gabby some cover going forward. Although Trossard should probably be given a chance to start next match.
I knew this day will come…the league is over for us. We will end in 3rd place behind both Manchester sides.
Arteta don’t make tactical adjustments in his game which is horrible. Like you want to win the league and you can’t change you style of play.
2 goals in 4 games, that’s very horrible from a side that want to compete in the league.
Truth is, if we don’t win the league this season, we can forget winning it in the next 5 years.
I was part of the optimistic ones
But immediately I saw “No Partey”
I knew we’ll be shipping in a couple of goals
Jorginho is more like a Xhaka replacement, NOT Partey’s
Defence will keep looking troubled against teams that can put us under pressure without Partey
I’m not confident at-all without him – nobody in the team can do what he does
We seem to invite “pressure” with no real answers how to handle it.
1. Zinchenko is a nightmare with the ball . I have a heart attack anytime he touches it . Too slow tactically vs a player like B. Silva.
2. Tierney would have helped Martinelli deal with been double teamed
3. Need to find a way to move Saka around more
4. Playing out of the back is great if you break the press quickly
Tonight we did not and hence 2 goals came from it.
Manager needs to make adjustments. MA is sticking to his 11 and his way of playing but that will not be enough to win the league. It may be enough for a top 4 spot .
We were poor 2.nd half and city controlled the game apart from trossard we had nothing on the bench that was going to change the game in our favour and that’s what is going to make the big difference at the end think now city will win it comfortably as a result of that!
Our best 11 are not good enough to handle city, never mind our squad
Martinelli needs to be rested, start trosdard
Rotate more with white and Tomy, tonight’s error due to lack of game time perhaps?
Nketiah not up to standard, need another next window
As for 34M For viera, who agreed that one
Reckon the rebuild is still in progress, while to go yet!
Good points. Especially with Tomi’s rotation. It may have been because of a lack of playing time
Yet our first eleven have led city all season up to now.
If Partey and Jesus. had been available, t believe we would have won this game.
We should have parked the bus and tried to play on counters but instead we tried to play passing game with the best team in league. We did sane against Barcelona all those UCL years n we are doing same again. Should have learnt from United and spuds. Arteta is exposed again tactically. He needs to learn to adapt sometimes to disrupt opponent game.
For me Arteta ball has still to prove it works under pressure. There were massive holes in the performance today again going forwards and at the back. I personally think the football required under pressure is too much and we cant play the way we want. Today we had a decent first half but the second was really poor and riddled with mistakes. The squad has no real difference makers in it, i know its my little thing but when i see viera on the touch line i just deflate. We have no real different way to attack to give our style a boost. I thought again in a big game Odergaard was non existent. Zinchenko, Martinelli, Saliba and Gabriel were like rabits in headlights and poor Tomiasu, he was awful. As the pundits suggested City are reeling us in and putting us in our place. Their change of attack i think will in the end pay dividends and our failure to get a big presence in the box will be our undoing. I am not surprised we got beat tonight but the manner worries me.
Some of the comments on here tonight are Ridiculous. Stop being so Defeatures and get behind our club. Which one of you was brave enough to even call this point in time at the start of the season 🤔 we were the better team simple if you actually watched it honestly? on to next one still got a game in hand so keep our heads up high snm.
Just listen to pep after the game mikel did pep on the tactics they are just Ruthless with a older team ours is the youngest tick tick pep 🤔
It wasn’t about the age and experience of their players, it was their quality. What were we expecting from Tomiyasu at centre back? A Danny Alvez masterclass? And what do Nketien and Xhaka bring to a game that even mid table teams could also match? The Villa game is the Big one for me. Arsenal must turn it around or else we’ll be looking at Groundhog day again or heaven forbid, out Spursying the mob down the road.
woulda coulda shoulda didn’t Buy a Quality Striker in the January Window. They sat on their hands yet again. It all on Edu and Arteta hear we go again. They had plenty of time to identify one or two strikers. Just won’t spend the big bucks.
Sincerely, I will out the blame on Edu or recruitment team because we had a chance in Jan to work on our deficiency but edu decided not to, we only have one average striker but didn’t buy or loan one more, everybody knows that Partey can not play full season but you went ahead and buy Outcast Chelsea reject old player ( I will rather remain with lokonga ) without Jesus, Partey and ESR, I think we are just ordinary team but I believe in the coach to change this ordinary team to world class team by making some adjustment to some tired players…
Gutted at losing but absolutely love our team. You saw real fight today and if a few touches went our way (Nketiah headers, Xhaka caught between two minds), it’s a different result. And if you put Partey n Jesus in, that game goes 3-1 us. Keep the belief, Gunners. A very winnable schedule over next 9 games, and I just pray Arteta doesn’t lend the Europa League any worth.
Title should read, City humble toothless Arsenal.
That’s exactly what we were and have been for the last few weeks.
Not bringing in a player for a plan b or Jesus type player is costing us.
Lack or limited tactical changes is also affecting us.
Oh well, top 4 at least
We’ve been amazing up to the last 3 league games. Every top team as a little blip at some point in the season, and ours is now.
I’d be more worried if we were at full strength during this downturn. Get Partey and Jesus back, plus a little more rotation should see us good again sooner rather than later.
Where has all the negative and poison thoughts been stored for all this time.
The same people who said it was in the bag are now condemning the manager and team
Yes we lost and yes it was a bad night at the office
The difference between Pep and Arteta. The years and experience he has in the job
He flicked a switch at half time and made sure he broke up the game. Free flowing we matched them and got the better of them but he broke up the game and unfortunately a few of our players were not able to cope with the mind games and lost consideration. They have top top players who can smell out confusion and also have the ability to punish
As I said before we have had a wonderful 19 games and we need to stay within touching distance come the last 8 or 10 games. Then we will see if we can take the league back to North London
Rwally understand the disappointment of last nights resultsl but to all the people on here who are slating the manager and team with none constructive criticism and just commenting with venom words.
Stop and get back on the faith train or crawl back in your box and close the lid.
We haven’t missed you and certainly don’t need you back on here stirring again
Say what you will, the biggest difference between “Pep” and “Arteta” is squad strength. The years and experience are irrelevant without the players.
Pep has the likes of Haaland, Arteta has Nketiah. Look at Man City’s bench: ‘nuff said.
What’s City’s net spend vs Arsenal in the last 5 years? I’ll wait…..
Surely that isn’t relevant?
City have been on top of the pile for years and spending a fortune to get and stay there. They do, therefore, have players with high value to sell on when they want. 2 players spring to mind.
We on the other hand needed to start again, so hence the recent investment. Willock was about the only player who had a market value. The rest were either paid off as virtually unsaleable or the club had to subsidise wages.
I wonder what Saka and Odegaard are worth?
Good points.
Of course it isn’t relevant to this particular discussion. Also, a number of people on this site continue to conveniently ignore the fact that the squad needed a massive overhaul. Whereas MC could afford to buy a player for £100m and use him almost as a bit part player.
David👍
Spot on AB.When City brought on Akanji as a replacement for an inverted right winger, and moved the makeshift Silva into midfield, they become much more solid and we were unable to break them down.Much has been said of the ineffectiveness of Nkteiah and Martinelli both of whom have played in virtually every match this season, but our main problem, which may well cost us the title, is our lack of defensive appreciation and awareness.The high risk and reward tactics deployed by Arteta has faltered as the form of our back four players, individually and collectively has shaded off.White, Saliba and most noticeably Gabriel last night have all been troubled of late,and Zinchenko is often caught out of position, which is not surprising , given the role allocated to him.Before the match, most Arsenal fans were clamouring for Tomi to replace White,They got their wish and it rebounded on them big time.For Tomi to be thrown in at the deep end in such an important match was surprising and unfortunately his lack of match sharpness was apparent to all.Basically, our back four needs to focus on keeping clean sheets first and foremost Virtually all successful sides have been based on a solid foundation, but ,unfortunately our rocks seem to be crumbling under physical pressure.Some urgent repairs are required otherwise we risk a damaging collapse.
Yes, Sue they were all lining up for Mustafi, just as they will be when we try to flog Pepe and Viera. Doesn’t that simply suggest a poor hit or miss recruiting policy to you? As for Saka, Odegaard, Saliba and even Martinellii, there’s gold their for the Kroenkes to barter with.
Definitely JoeS there were mistakes made. Pepe – heaven help us there,and the likes of Mari and Soares who were only meant to be loan signings on Sanhelli’s watch, brought about a new beginning with Edu/Arteta and a overhaul at executive level. Vieira doesn’t look promising as yet, but overall I’m satisfied with the transfers
SueP, Pepe is a good player, whose confidence was destroyed by the ridiculously corrupt transfer fee. His goal/assist record for minutes played is very respectable.
Teams have figured out how to neutralize Arsenal and Arteta hasn’t realized that,otherwise he would have attempted tweaking his tactics. It is not as if Arsenal has a deep in form,it is teams figuring out how to play us and the worst thing is we play the same way every game. Unless there is a successful change in tactics and pattern of play,we will continue to struggle irrespective of opposition.
Let’s not talk about plan B’s again
We have drops our levels a bit which was always going to happen
In the middle of a monster run we had a world cup break and had to kick start again when we came back.
This gave other teams a chance to reset and start again
I would rather have a blip now rather then 8 games to go
We will come good again and just need to hang on in there so we are within touching distance of others come when it matters.
The league isn’t won or lost in mod Feb.
Key players to come back at the right time
We played a full strength city team last night without one of our key players
We went toe to toe with them first half and with better finishing should have come in with a tidy lead.
City came out and played it tactically better then us.
Broke up play
Stopped the play with fouls
Didn’t allow us to flow
And clinically killed us off with 2 goals which we created for them
I am down but not feeling out of it.
Still a long way to go and a heck of a lot more twists to come
You got to stepp back and remember if someone would have said to you 12 months ago
Come mid Feb would you settle for being joint top with a game in hand would you take it
Damn right you would have said
Onwards and upwards
Reality Allan, 👍
I expected this loss, to be honest, based on our previous two games. Now it’s all on us if we want to get back on top and fight for the title, as we had chances when City dropped points and we lost them!
MA should start playing with 1 CDM (Partey) and consider playing with more forwards, we are lacking creativity and dribbling on top with most of the opponents trying to play 1vs1 against Saka and Marti .. we should start pushing more players forward and consider 5 only on the back.
I hope Jesus and ESR are getting better soon,, we clearly need them!
Imagine City without Halaand or KDB ..
Arsenal fans are all getting a bit carried away. We have not made CL for 6 years. Everyones expectation this year was make CL and kick on from there. We look likely to do this (I hope).
We have had a great run and its a nice addition to our expectations that we could win the league but even if we gave Man C a great run and challenged that would be a better season than 99% of fans expected.
So positives for me are
1. the stadium atmosphere is something that has been missing for 10 years plus.
2. We have a team and fans that still believe even if we go behind and that fight is amazing to watch.
3. I am watching exciting football again after so many years of dross.
Negatives.
1. Arteta’s lack of plan B every sub is always like for like this needs work.
2. Striker (we need one)
3. Player rotation.
But all said this has been the best and most exciting season as a fan for many many many years. CL football next season should bring a better caliber of players to add to what is a good foundation.
So regardless of if we win the league or not (and it is still in our hands with the game in hand) I will enjoy this season and it has been along time since I have.
Also I don’t listen to anyone who states that if we had bought this player or that player we would have won the league because nobody can know what impact any player can have coming into the team at this stage.
Hope you all enjoy the rest of the season with all its ups and downs.
Exactly